Noelle is an interesting little movie. It features actors youve never heard of before, its directed by a guy youve never heard of before, and yet the message that it portrays is very controversial to say the least. And its marketed as a Christmas movie! By the DVD cover alone, it looks like a Christmas movie; the word “Noelle” actually means “Christmas”. I was expecting a sweet little religious themed story centered around the Christmas holiday, but this movie tackles some major religious issues. Its clearly a pro-life movie, and some have claimed that its anti-Catholicism. This is an interesting movie indeed.
Directed by, produced by, and starring David Wall, Noelle takes place in New England, at a Catholic church that is dying. Father Jonathan Keene (David Wall) has been sent in to close the church down, just a few weeks before Christmas. The pastor of the church, Father Simeon Joyce, is an old friend of Father Keenes and pleads with him to keep his church open. Fr. Keene gives him one last opportunity to bring people in to the church: to have the church hold a live nativity scene and cast members of the church in the roles. The only problem is that just about everyone in the church is over the age of 60 and they have to find a Mary.
Fr. Keene meets a young lady at a bus stop on his first day in town and is taken with her. He finds that her name is Marjorie and he begins making his case to Fr. Joyce to recruit her for the role of Mary. Although she persists and says that shes just not the type to play Mary, Fr. Keene is sure that shes the one to play Mary.
The three have formed a bit of a non-sexual love triangle. Marjorie lets the two priests know that she is pregnant and unmarried. Her boyfriend, the father of the child, is married to another woman. At a party, Fr. Joyce confesses to Fr. Keene that he would like to give up the ministry and marry Marjorie, raising the child as if it was his own. Theres a bit of jealousy and regret in Fr. Keenes eyes as he tells him this. He clearly wishes he were the one to step into that role. Later on at the same party, Marjorie and Fr. Keene are outside talking, and Fr. Keene reveals to her the reason he became a priest. He had a girlfriend in college whom he got pregnant. He didnt want to marry her, so he convinced her to get an abortion. Haunted by this decision, he chose to become a priest to forever atone for his sin. Marjorie takes pity on him and comforts him.
Throughout the movie, a young girl is shown standing in the snow, dressed in a fur coat and boots. She seems to follow Fr. Keene around. Its at the end of the movie, when Marjorie is at the hospital giving birth to her baby that we find out who this young girl is.
The direction by David Wall was very simple and at times looked like it could be an ABC Family original movie. Still, the New England snowy setting is beautiful.
Noelle has been viewed by many people as being anti-Catholicism. Why would Fr. Keene join the ministry and become a priest just because he made a poor decision in his youth? And why would he and Fr. Joyce take their vows so lightly? Personally, I am not Catholic, so none of these things bothered me at all while viewing the film. I can see how Catholics would be bothered though. There is also a scene where Fr. Keene runs out on Christmas Eve Mass, spilling a cup of the communion wine, the blood of Christ. I have read that this scene in particular is disturbing to Catholics.
The movie is clearly Pro-Life. Being Pro-Choice, I still didnt see anything wrong with the message they were trying to send in the film. I think its very brave of director David Wall to tackle such a strong issue. I think that hes portrayed his message very well. Instead of being preachy, I found the film to speak the message of love and redemption, something that can extend across all religions.
Presented in widescreen with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
There are no extras save a few previews: Dog Hotel and The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Now that I’ve seen this movie, I’m going to be interested in seeing what is to come from David Wall. He’s got a lot of potential to be a great storyteller and I admire his courage to present the issues that he has. It’s not your typical Christmas movie, so if you’re in the mood for something a little different, then this might just be for you.
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Paramount presents Noelle. Directed by David Wall. Starring David Wall, Kerry Wall, Brennan Wall, Sean Patrick Brennan. Written by David Wall. Running time: 90 minutes. Rated PG. Released on DVD: November 11, 2008. Available at Amazon.
